Travel

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    Hotel Review: Brewery Gulch Inn (Mendocino, CA)

    ByHungry for Points

    My wife and I aren’t really the types to plan our weekends well in advance, and actually prefer to make spontaneous, last-minute plans. So halfway through the week prior to the 3-day MLK weekend in January, we decided that it’d be fun to drive up to Mendocino for a couple nights. Despite having both lived in Northern California for essentially our entire lives, neither of us had been to Mendocino before, but we’d heard that the drive along the California coast was something that everyone needed to do at least once. Given that it was January, the weather wouldn’t be ideal, but we were fine with the gloom as long as there wasn’t constant rain.

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    The World’s 50 Best Restaurants For 2015

    ByHungry for Points

    It’s a list that’s as controversial as the rankings of “Best Airlines In the World” and “Best Hotels In The World”, but I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t interested in the newly released 2015 World’s Best Restaurants. This is an annual list produced by Restaurant magazine in the UK with results based on a polling of chefs, restauranteurs, and food critics. In other words, the scores are probably about as subjective as a figure skating competition or college football’s BCS.

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    Flight Review: Alaska Airlines First Class San Jose To Maui

    ByHungry for Points

    In recent years I’ve been very fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to the Maldives and the Seychelles. But while the Maldives and Seychelles provide ultra-exclusive island getaways, they also have the price tag to match, and are a 24+ hour journey each way from the USA. As beautiful and amazing as those destinations were, as I reflect on those trips, what I really walk away with is a renewed appreciation for just how lucky I am to have Hawaii in my backyard. From the West Coast it’s less than a 5 hour direct flight to the Hawaiian islands, and they are chock full of mainstream chain hotels to use points at. Also, since you’re still in the USA, it’s easy to drive around and there’s worrying about cell phone service.

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    How Much Are You Willing To Pay To Reserve Seats In Advance?

    ByHungry for Points

    Last week, there were some great Business Class deals floating around for travel to Europe later this year and even into next year. It seems like the East Coast gets the majority of the European deals, but this wave included departures from the West Coast (SFO and LAX) on either American Airlines or British Airways as low as $2,100. While I’m never keen to transfer via London’s Heathrow airport, I was able to knock an additional $400 off the price by booking with British Airways and utilizing the AARP discount, so it was a no-brainer to choose BA over AA.

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    New mayor of Barcelona wants to CUT tourism

    ByMiles From Blighty

    The Guardian newspaper in the UK is reporting that the new major of Barcelona, host to 7.5 million visitors in 2013, wants to reduce the number of visitors coming to the city. in move which is totally opposite to what most majors would seek to do, I wonder how many of the 100,000 jobs supported by visitors will be lost.

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    Hyatt has some summer offers

    ByMiles From Blighty

    Hyatt periodically offers sales and this one, for multi-night stays at a good number of properties, is decent. I’ve checked a couple of properties and the sale is real, in that it beats the normal best price. Check the list and see if you need to change any of your rates.